Villanova’s women’s basketball team begins life after Lucy Olsen

NEW YORK — For the last few years, Villanova women’s basketball coach Denise Dillon knew she had a star to turn to, courtesy of breakout years from Maddy Siegrist and Lucy Olsen.

Now, that presence is gone, a fact highlighted by the latest Big East women‘s basketball coaches preseason poll. The Wildcats were picked to finish sixth, and no players made the preseason all-conference team.

No. 1 was Connecticut, of course, a unanimous pick except for the Huskies’ own vote by rule. (Geno Auriemma picked Creighton, which was No. 2.) UConn superstar Paige Bueckers was picked as the conference’s preseason player of the year, and freshman Sarah Strong — ESPN’s top-ranked high schooler and the reigning Naismith high school player of the year — was picked as the top rookie.

Like her men’s team counterpart, Dillon runs a program that is active in the transfer portal. She perhaps had to be more involved in the portal than she wanted to be this summer after Olsen departed for Iowa, Christina Dalce went to Maryland, and Zanai Jones went to SMU.

But Dillon brought in three players she expects to contribute: Bronagh Power-Cassidy from Holy Cross, Ryanne Allen from Vanderbilt, and Lara Edmanson from Santa Clara.

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Of the Wildcats’ returning players, Dillon picked sophomore guard Maddie Webber as someone who can step up.

“I think we have the ability to have four kids in double figures each night,” Dillon said.

When asked if she expects to be significantly active in the transfer portal every summer, Dillon didn’t hesitate.

“Yes, I do,” she said. “Maybe not to the degree [of] the numbers that we experienced this past year, but, yeah, I would say you’re looking at probably two transfers a year on average. It’s just the way — where some [players] are figuring out if this is where I want to be and making decisions that work best for them, and us doing the same in return.”

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Villanova’s recent success has made Dillon’s program a more attractive destination for transfers and for local high school prospects. The Big 5 hasn’t consistently had a team reach national relevance since Dawn Staley was in charge of Temple (followed by Tonya Cardoza continuing the Owls’ success for a few more seasons).

“What we’ve done has definitely caught the attention of some top local players,” Dillon said. “And then it’s on us to convince them to stay close to home and play in one of the best conferences in the country in the Big East.”

The recent years of success didn’t just bring wins to the Main Line, they brought bigger crowds. As the popularity of women’s basketball keeps growing, attendance numbers will be worth watching — along with players’ stats.

The biggest spotlight of the season obviously will come when Bueckers visits Finneran Pavilion on Jan. 5. Before that, there will be another benchmark moment on Dec. 6, when Villanova hosts the inaugural women’s Big 5 tournament tripleheader. It’s the first year that the women’s City Series has gone to the tournament format that the men started last year, and Dillon has high expectations.

“You want to make sure … that it is well attended, well run, and we know Villanova certainly will do that,” she said. “We’re going to put a great show on, and, yeah, make sure the fans are in the stands.”